Today in Nerd History: “Edward Scissorhands”
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, today those names go together like Burt and Ernie. In 1990 Tim Burton had commercial successes with Micheal Keaton as his main man in both Beetlejuice and Batman. When Fox green-lit Burton’s Suburban Fantasy/Romance; Edward Scissorhands, Johnny Depp was just coming off of his run on 21 Jump Street and his first big feature Cry-Baby. Burton brought back Winona Ryder from Beetlejuice to play the female lead and the incredible Vincent Price to play the old inventor. This would be Price’s last major role in a motion picture. The movie hit theaters in a limited release December 7th, 1990 and a nation wide release December 14th. This movie like Burton’s previous two films was successful with critics and audiences, and has continued to be a cult classic like many of Burton’s films.
Edward Scissorhands is the story of a human like creation of an old inventor. He was raised and schooled by the inventor who died just before attaching Edward’s hands, leaving him with scissorhands. A woman finds him alone in the Gothic scary mansion on the hill and brings him to her perfect suburban town to become a real boy! He of course falls in love with their daughter, played by Ryder. Though life is not simple for a man as different as Edward, for he can never touch his love without hurting her. Scissor hands are good for a multitude of things like; hair cuts, hedge trimming, and ice sculptures. They are not so great for holding the love of your life though. Its a beautiful and sad tale all while set in a pastel nightmare of the late 80’s early 90’s suburbia.
The movie really set the tone for what we have come to expect from the Burton/Depp duo, yet most everyone agrees they have never recaptured the magic from Edward Scissorhands. They have gone on to make 7 more movies about the odd loners together and I am sure will continue to. As who would Johnny Depp be without prosthetic and too much make up, am I right? In all seriousness no one loves a Burton/Depp movie more than me, they can keep cranking them out until they retire and I will keep buying the tickets.
Kyle was born and
raised a nerd, as a toddler she
would watch Batman on repeat and we are not
going to say that did something to her brain…but it might
have. These days she
is a TV/Movie junkie with a side of comic obsession. Now that she has found this
incredible outlet to share her nerdy perspective on movies and TV shows she can
stop pestering her
husband and animals with superhero business!
